LEOPARDS 31 
reach the edge of the forest at 5 p.m., and soon found the 
house that he told me he had there (altitude 4,700 feet). 
I have every reason to believe that I was the first 
European who had ever visited the place, and I may 
mention that, when I came to stay here later on, natives 
would make journeys of four or five days to see the 
Foreign Devil who they heard was living there. Being 
very tired, I was glad to find a fairly decent house, and 
after tea turned in early. 
On the next day, October 10, I started to reconnoitre 
and make inquiries of such natives as I might be fortu- 
nate enough to meet with, for the district is very thinly 
populated, the few that do inhabit it growing a little 
Indian corn for their food, and it is worthy of note that 
here they will not eat rice. Before I had gone far I 
came across the tracks of a wild pig, which I followed 
for some distance, and then, not far from it, found the 
remains of a domestic pig that had evidently been killed 
by a leopard, for the tracks could be plainly seen. These 
I decided to follow, and found they led into the thick 
jungle, where in most places it was impossible to advance 
except upon hands and knees. Soon I came upon 
the lairs of two of them, which they must have very 
recently quitted, for they were still warm to the hand; 
probably the brutes had been alarmed at my approach. 
The jungle now became so thick, and progress so slow, 
